Emperor's Reckoning

The auburn beauty put up a smile against the three of them. 

Luna's pupils dilated as she looked at the cream of the crop woman right in front of her. The lines on her abs were visible with clear slightly darker lines of her complexion. Her voluptuous breasts were hardly covered by her hair and her other arm reached out to an already prepared warm tea.

She put her other hand on her waist before she drank it without the unnecessary way to savor such a delicate drink.

The tomboyish woman was unlike Ayumu nor Karina. She was a full-fledged mature woman that was at the peak of her age. She quite frankly didn't care about other meaningless things most of the time. 

She put her cup on top of the beautiful saucer before sitting down right beside Lyon. Her skin was damped from the bath before but it was enough for her to sit comfortably.

"Hm?" Cecile raised one of her eyebrows. "Why are you blushing, Luna?"

"Na?! I-I..."

Lyon raised both of his eyebrows. "This is the first time I see you flustering."

"Shut up," said Luna as she look another way.

"Cecile, you're naked," said Lumina as she couldn't be bothered anymore.

"Ah right, well, there is only one towel left," said Cecile before she chuckled.

"Hmm," Lumina gave her a side glance.

Cecile shrugged, "Alright, alright... madam Lumina." She winked at her.

Lumina almost spat her drink but managed to hold it off to the last second. 

Lyon slightly tilted his head in confusion.

"Don't you realize it, Lyon, out of the four of us here, who is the oldest?" said Cecile as she lit the fuse to a bomb.

"Oh..." (Shit) thought Lyon as he realized what the 'madam' was for.

Since Luna was at the same age as Lyon and Cecile was reincarnated into this world recently. That made Lumina the oldest of the four of them.

Lyon was of course wondering about the real age of his dear Lumina, but the atmosphere had turned increasingly tense due to Cecile's teasing word.

"You have something you want to say to me? Cecile." 

(There it is!) thought Lyon as he let out a sigh. (Woman's age is still sensitive no matter if she were a dragon or a human... especially a dragon) thought Lyon. The mystical being could live for a very long time without cultivating due to their innate power alone. Coupled with the cultivation method, her lifespan far exceeds those of human cultivators.

Lumina was looking at her changing clothes with a glare on her end. Despite putting the teacup on its respective saucer calmly, the raging intent on her mimic was extraordinary.

"I have nothing to say to you but sorry," said Cecile after finishing wearing her casual clothes on.

She sat back beside Lyon as if nothing happened before grabbing an empty plate and started eating.

Lumina narrowed her eyes before she resumed her calmness. The super-changing emotion that she displayed was making Lyon slightly nervous. 

He was already holding the table so that she didn't flip it out of anger and ruin the foods he had not yet eaten. He made a silent sigh of relief before he grabbed a fork.

The lunch was not as merry as he would have expected as the room was only filled with the subtle crunching of the delicacies in their mouths.

(I guess this is nice) thought Lyon as he looked around him. He was eating with three beauties. One was a tiger, one was a dragon and one was a war goddess. The serene atmosphere was calming to the touch and the sunshine that was coming from the hole on the roof only enchanted them.

After a few chats and smiles, Lyon got up from his feet before taking a bath himself. The warm water immediately soothed his tense muscle as he slipped down the water before lightly blowing bubbles in it.

"I'm exhausted," said Lyon as he looked up with his legs spread out to the side of the tub. He suddenly let out a smile.

(This position reminded me of that summoning day) thought Lyon. He was chilling in his house in the bath under the thunderstorm that basked the city before noticing a shaking fridge.

He opened his eyes before looking against the window nearby. The sun was still up in the sky, radiating her glory to the people.

"I hope this is not a dream..." said Lyon before he suddenly felt restless. "If this is a dream, then don't wake me up."

The people he had met suddenly flashed before his eyes. The moment where he came here for the first time up until leading to this point of time. Dragon, elves, golems, and the rest. He would have never thought that those things existed. He slightly leaned upon the head of the tub before slouching and looking at his palms.

The root of the solution was in his second ring. Cecile's words echoed in his mind.

'That rings hold a key.'

"A key to my sealed memory," muttered Lyon. "It seems really surreal to have a past life, but, I don't mind hehe."

Lyon looked up and wondered. "I wonder why would the old me seal my memories though? And the answer lies beyond where the key would take me, huh."

He smirked as he answered his own question.

"Sea memories, how do you even access that place," muttered Lyon before he slowly closed his eyes.

---

"Huh..."

Lyon opened his eyes before he suddenly found himself standing on top of a clear transparent plateau. He looked down before seeing an actual sea with flashes of images floating and disappearing. 

"Wait! Is this sea of memories? Are you kidding me? That's all I have to do?!" said Lyon as he shook his head with a smirk.

"Well... to be fair, I'm the host," said Lyon before he noticed himself naked. "No need for clothes here."

"Let me guess," muttered Lyon before he turned around.

He snorted with a smile on his face, "There it is, one big and a giant double door."

Right in front of him was a giant door made of unknown material. The door was locked with giant chains surrounding it and one huge lock in the middle to seal it tight. There was nothing behind the floating door nor there was something on the sides. It was just one floating giant door.

Lyon willed with his thought to float before he approached the giant lock. 

"Oh? The giant lock is actually a part of the double door? Now that is something," said Lyon before he got an idea. "The key is no go, but maybe I could take a little peek?"

He slightly slouched down and looked through the hole of the giant lock. "Hmm, I can not see a thing."

He let out a sigh before crossing his arms. "Hah... if I opened this door later, will I still be me now?"

Lyon opened his palm before a giant key was formed floating above him. The key was really simple looking but it could only open one lock due to its magnitude in size. 

*Thump

His heart was thumping as he was this close to unveiling the secret of his own life. The desire to open the door slowly swelled up inside his body. 

(I'm behind this door... Lyon... the real Lyon Torga is behind this door) thought Lyon before he made a harsh swallow.

"Heh," Lyon smirked before his eyes turned sharp. With a flick of his palm, the key rotated before pointing at the lock. 

His hair fluttered before he pushed his palm forward. The key etched into the lock perfectly before giving out a loud daunting boom as a result.

He suddenly felt a chill breeze crashing against his body as he closed his eyes. He realized that the soothing piece that he felt right now, was nothing sort of a miracle.

He slowly buried his fingers into his palm as if getting a good grip of holding the giant key. He slowly rotated his key counterclockwise

*Ding!

The noise startled Lyon before he saw the giant chains starting to break apart little by little. As the metallic chain crumbled to the sea of memories, the grand double door gradually displayed its beauty.

After the last bit of the chain crumbled the key vanished with a will of his thought. He approached the giant door with his eyes dilating. His hand was trembling before his palm touched the giant door.

"Not yet, heh." a smirk.

Lyon's eyes opened wide before he suddenly found himself back in the tub. He was heaving up and down in disbelief. "W-What was that... Who... ?!"

"Don't tell me... that voice is 'me'?"

His heart was thumping excitedly but his face smiled wryly. "Of course, 'I' have put up a countermeasure in case my own curiosity... heh." 

He got out of the bath before wearing his usual clothing.